IG Group to bring Australian crypto exchange to UAE
IG Group Holdings plc (“IG”), a London registered broker, has acquired Independent Reserve from Australia for 87 million pounds, and will utilize the acquisition to offer crypto services to customers in Singapore, Australia and the UAE in the second half of 2026.
The acquisition while announced in September 2025, became effective on January 30th after regulatory approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore. The London-listed broker’s interest in crypto became clearer when it began offering digital assets to its customers in June through a partnership with Uphold. It also became the first UK-listed broker to secure the Financial Conduct Authority’s crypto registration.
IG started offering spot crypto trading services through its partnership with Uphold. The company also expanded its crypto offerings under its US unit tastytrade.
Matt Macklin, Managing Director of Asia Pacific & Middle East at IG, commented, “I’m delighted to welcome Adrian and the Independent Reserve team to IG. This acquisition strengthens our crypto capabilities and positions us to meet growing customer demand across APAC and the Middle East.”
Adrian Przelozny, CEO and co-founder of Independent Reserve also noted that joining IG Group was an exciting new chapter and the combination of Independent Reserve’s crypto expertise with IG’s scale across APAC and the Middle East will accelerate their mission to bring regulated crypto trading to a wider audience.
The acquisition and announcement of expansion to the Middle East, specifically UAE, comes after Turkish Paribu’s acquisition of CoinMENA and Indian CoinDCX’s acquisition of BitOasis.
